Yesterday morning was gray and dull as I looked out my kitchen window.
I almost thought I was in a dream when I spotted a tree in the yard diagonally behind us.
All the leaves were gone and it appeared to be covered with orange decorations.
They looked like tomatoes. This was when I had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake.
I remember this tree being planted long ago when it was young and small.
I think the Asian family that planted it has since moved away.
The tree is the perfect screen because it is no longer small, and yet not too tall.
It has spread wide across our corner view.
I have never in all the years since it was planted noticed it having orange decorations.
I wondered are these pods or are they fruit. I was unfamiliar with the tree’s name.
I quickly searched the internet, and discovered that it must be a Persimmon tree.
I don’t know the people that live there now.
It does not appear they have any interest in its fruit since it is mid-to late December.
I had a full day of errands ahead of me so I went on about my business.
I made a mental note to see if I could find a store that sells this fruit.
My early morning sighting was very fortuitous.
I knew a store that might sell this fruit, and it turned out that my search for it sent me outside my normal path, and this particular shopping center was right where I needed to be to accomplish my most important task for the day.
I found my persimmons (and they do look similar to tomatoes.)
I have since read a little about this fruit, and it made me pull out and clean my dehydrator.
I will update later with what I decided to do with these.
If I get the courage, I will drive around the neighborhood to see who lives in that house now.
It would be a shame to let all that fruit on their tree go to waste.
12/22/23 update: I sliced the persimmons and dehydrated them. I saved a few from the drying process to use in baking. I love the flavors & spices of gingerbread,so I looked at several different recipes. I could not find one that completely satisfied what I wanted to try, so I improvised.
I ended up going back to my old traditional Pillsbury cookbook, and found a classic gingerbread recipe. I then improvised by adding a puree of ripe persimmon and pecan halves (about 1 cup.) I decorated with some dried slices. Here are a couple of pictures.
The cake should be good with a little eggnog ice cream and gingerbread flavored coffee. If you don't like gingerbread, another option is a big juicy gourmet pear half filled with a dollop of cottage cheese and topped off with a dried persimmon slice. Sorry no picture of this. This might be my husband's option.
movingforwardslowly 